When Meaghan Mikkelson moved to Calgary in the fall of 2011, the Canadian Women’s Hockey League team based in the Stampede City didn’t even have a name.

“We made up a name,” explained Mikkelson, who played two seasons for the team affectionately known as the Alberta Honeybadgers.

Fellow defender Jocelyn Larocque also joined the Honeybadgers for the 2012-13 season, and the pair went on to help the Canadian women’s national hockey team win gold at the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia.

While Larocque went on to join the CWHL’s Brampton Thunder, Mikkelson returned to Calgary with her husband, Scott Reid, and the pair welcomed their son Calder in September of 2015.

“This is our home right now,” said Mikkelson, while noting she still has ties to her hometown of St. Albert. “It’s been amazing to move to this city, and the hockey fan base is great.”

With Reid as her coach, Mikkelson helped the Calgary Inferno win the 2016 Clarkson Cup, which reignited her passion for hockey.

Fast forward a couple years and Mikkelson, along with eight of her Inferno teammates, cracked Team Canada’s lineup to play at the upcoming 2018 Olympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

“If you would have asked me at the start of my career if I was going to play in three Olympics, I probably would have said, ‘I’m not so sure about that’,” said Mikkelson, who will be reunited with Larocque on a defence corps that also includes her Inferno teammate Brigette Lacquette. “With just being six of us, we’re a pretty tight-knit group back there — just a lot of experience and a lot of variety in terms of skill and talent, and we all have our different strengths. I think it’s a great mix that we have.”

Also joining Mikkelson on Team Canada from the Inferno are goalie Genevieve Lacasse along with forwards Rebecca Johnston, Haley Irwin, Brianne Jenner, Jillian Saulnier, Bailey Bram and Blayre Turnbull.

After four seasons with the CWHL’s Boston Blades, Lacasse decided to relocate to Calgary “to change things up” and join the Inferno in 2016.

“I had an opportunity to come out here, and I took it,” said the product of Kingston, Ont., who was born in Montreal. “I’ve moved a lot in my years. I come from a military family. I think wherever I am, I make it as homey as possible.”

Although she started out her CWHL career with the Toronto Furies in 2013, Johnston relocated to Calgary in the fall of 2014 to join the Inferno.

“I just picked Calgary because I really liked the area and I thought it would be more convenient for me to be training here full time with Hockey Canada so close,” said Johnston, of Sudbury, Ont., who’s aiming to win her third straight Olympic gold medal along with Mikkelson and Irwin. “We’ve been building up this moment for a long time, so we’re just really excited to get going and head to South Korea.”

The trio also hopes to provide whatever advice they can to Olympic rookies Saulnier, Bram and Turnbull.

“I just try to be there to support them as much as I can and just be approachable and try to help them with any wisdom or knowledge I’ve had from the past two Olympics,” said Johnston, who has been a mainstay on a line with Jenner.

The pair has also often played with Saulnier on their right wing, which formed a line that played together when they all attended Cornell University and played for the NCAA’s Big Red in 2011-12.

Heading into her first Olympics, Turnbull definitely likes the fact that she can rely on advice from veterans like Mikkelson, Johnston, Irwin and Jenner in addition to her other Inferno teammates.

“I think transitioning from the Inferno to the Olympic team was easier with a big group, because it’s not like you’re on a brand new team with a whole new roster of people you’re not familiar with,” said Turnbull, of Stellarton, N.S. “We’ve been working so hard together as a unit and making so much progress, so I think when we go to the Olympics we’re definitely expecting to bring home a gold medal. We won’t be satisfied until that happens.”

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